With a number of cases still before the Courts, the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) has reported that it was able to take more than $1.1 bilion worth of drugs off the streets of Guyana in 2022.
According to CANU, it was able to seize over 3400 kgs of narcotics in 2022, which represents a 68.26% increase when compared to the illegal drugs seized in 2021.
Based on its End-of-Year for 2022, marijuana was the most seized drug followed by cocaine and cannabis seeds.
In 2022, the anti-narcotic unit seized 3,280.25 kgs of marijuana compared to 1,977 kgs in 2021, while 121.31 kgs of cocaine was seized in 2022, compared to 41.093kgs in 2021. Additionally, some 1kg of cannabis seeds was confiscated by CANU in 2022.
However, while there was an increase in the amount of Methamphetamine seized in 2022, there was a significant reduction in the amount of Ecstasy confiscated.
According to CANU, 818.7 grams of Ecstasy was seized in 2022 compared to 3.127kgs in 2021. Approximately 302.6 grams of Methamphetamine was seized in 2022 compared to 154 grams in 2021.
The CANU report also stated that Region 4 accounted for the majority of the seizures, representing some 62%, followed by Region 6 with 23%; Region 9 with 7% and Region 3 with 6%. Region 10 only accounted for 2% of the seizures.
In Region 4, all four illegal substances were found, with cocaine totalling some 104.49 kgs, cannabis 410.12 kgs, meth 302.6 grams, ecstasy 366 grams and cannabis seeds 1kg.
CANU also seized a number of weapons, including 1 crossbow, 8 shotguns and 12 pistols. Notably, only four firearms were confiscated in 2021.
Importantly, 115 cases were filed in 2022 compared to 75 in 2021.
Of the current cases, 29 involve cocaine, 80 involve marijuana, 4 involve ecstasy and 2 involved meth. There were a total of 42 convictions, CANU in the past year.
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